Canada announced Tuesday millions of dollars in aid for food assistance to drought-affected areas of in Afghanistan.

Ottawa said it was allocating CAN$13 million (US$12.6 million) for the World Food Program (WFP) to provide emergency food "to almost three million people in 14 northern and north eastern provinces of Afghanistan," International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda said in a statement.

The aid will buy food rations for 1.2 million people, as well as cash vouchers worth the equivalent value of 50 kilograms of wheat flour for six months for 42,000 families in urban areas.

Millions of Afghans are reportedly facing food shortages after one of the worst droughts to strike the north of war-torn Afghanistan in a decade.

A news article posted on WFP's website describes children being treated for malnourishment, wells having dried up and families selling off domestic animals at cut-rate prices before migrating to cities to find food, water and work.

Oda said aid agencies are racing to help them before snow blocks access to the remote areas.

UN seeks $1.5 bln for Somalia famine crisisNairobi (AFP) Dec 13, 2011 The humanitarian crisis gripping millions of Somalis due to a harsh drought this year will persist for the coming months, the UN said Tuesday as it appealed for $1.5 billion for 2012.
The UN declared six regions in southern Somalia famine zones earlier this year, and although it said last month that three regions were now not facing famine, more than half of Somalia's 10 million people are i ... read more

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